Filters Alone Will Not Solve Information Overload

There is a lot of discussion around creating better filters to solve our information overload and also a bit of a backlash about filters - most notably Eli Pariser's talk on Beware the Online Filter Bubble and another great perspective from Graham Chastney. All of these discussions are important but I see information overload as primarily a human problem, not a technical one. A few years ago I wrote a post about scarcity and ambundance and I still think this is the fundamental issue at play with information. Humans are driven to hoard because our impulses were built for an environment of scarcity. We are worried that if we don't read everything - particularly if passed on through trusted social connections - we might miss something important and that makes us anxious. We mistake the available and accessible for the valuable.

Yes, technology can help with this problem by throttling the information we see but we still have that issue of human anxiety. To make headway against this pernicious impluse requires some challenging behavior change:

• Self awareness about our interests, needs, and priorities - both short-term which are in constant flux and long-term which need constant, if not deep, attention to acheive.
• Ability to translate priorities into information needs.
• Ability to connect our information needs tactically to how we set up our information environment.
• The consistency and time to adapt as our priorities do.

That is a tall order for most of us which is why I believe the problem of information overload will be with us for a while. It's a complex adaptive system and most of us have been raised and educated for a world of transactional processes which we can 'perfect'.  I've spoken before about decision-making in this new world - and I don't think most of us are ready for it. We want the security of knowing we are making the right choices which assumes a static context. The sand and information, however, is now in constant flux... which in many ways contributes even more to our need to hoard information so we can try to make a 'perfect' decision.

What to do? So far the only solution I've really found is to muddle through and get comfortable with turning off devices, knowing I'm missing things and trusting that if it is really important, it will circle back. This may also be why I still rely on my Moleskin to keep my priorities clear. Online it is too easy to dive down rat holes of information that, while fascinating, are not related to my priorities.

How do you keep yourself from needing to see and read it all?

Photo By Breibeest

Comments

[Krcraft]

Timely post, Rachel. I was pondering filtering through the lens of curation this morning, and this piece ties in nicely.

I've shared that feeling of vague discomfort at times; that misleading feeling of certainty that we might miss that one sure and necessary golden knowledge nugget while unplugged. But, as you noted,there is comfort in 'trusting that if it is really important, it will circle back.'

For me, that ease has been a learned process, linked closely with that self-awareness of interest and needs as they relate to priorities. No machine or technology can replace either the filtering, or the organizing of information in a way that makes it easy for us to circle back ourselves. Selective curation helps, and as you also noted, it is never a static thing.

Digital curation has become a bit of a buzz phrase, but effective curators collect people, not just content. As priorities and projects shift, so too should our attention and focus shift towards the most relevant voices of the moment - and the future.

An example of tactical organization I change dynamically might be something as simple as creating a new twitter list or dashboard columns including only the best commentators attending an event or conference that I have to miss. Sure, following the conference hashtag might give the overall flavour, but we'd still have to filter through far too much to dig out the treasures most useful to ourselves. By carefully segregating voices that won't just report, but will debate and offer opinions, we can zero in on the nuggets, do further research, and perhaps even chime in in absentia with something relevant ourselves.

As well, it is a great way to surface new voices of interest - who are the people I trust talking or debating with? If interesting, add them to main daily filtering pipeline, or blog feed. End of conference - and we simply drop that column or list off the roles and carry on with usual filtering until the next big thing happens.

This is just one example, but I've found that binge proactive about setting and resetting my filters has been far more effective and efficient than trying to come up with a master system that covers all scenarios.

As you've stated - it is indeed adaptive, and that self-awareness, coupled with a few quick tricks helps ease discomfort - and services priorities.

[Skhanyz]

Hi Rachel,
This is a fascinating take of a problem that has been vexing me for year. Indeed, I've been working on a technology solution to 'guarantee' that the the data _will_ circle back.

We've been developing a curation software that actually analyzes all the documents that you normally would have had the opportunity to read and employs smart natural-language-processing to refine them into a manageable list. I'll send you a note when gnowit.com is ready to step out of stealth mode, and would love some feedback on whether you found this useful.

Best,

Shahzad

[Quiip]

Great post Rachel. I think being in Australia I learnt fairly quickly that I couldn't keep up with the info overload on twitter - as there'd be hours of great US/UK content overnight and I hadn't even quite woken up yet!

Krcraft's point is spot-on with regards to curation also being about collecting people. I really treat my twitter followers as people foraging the internet for useful info - purely for me. Haha! I try to keep my follower numbers low but they need more pruning.

I too trust that info will circle back. I think it's also about balancing "unconnected" time and recognising this helps refuel you.

Your post is great - the bullet-points have given me some things to reflect on further...

[Rhappe]

Great comments and it does come down to people vs. the content because we are collectively always adapting and if people you trust suddenly become interested in something that you cannot predict, you would definitely miss something.
Alison - the unconnected time is also really important. The perspective you get helps to re-prioritize and focus and that is definitely something technology will never be able to solve!